English
ภาษาไทย
Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC)
Although traditional Thai art features at the BACC, the limelight is most definitely taken by a very modern interior and some exciting contemporary art. The building's exterior is admittedly uninspiring but who wants to stand outside in the heat anyway? Let's go indoors...
If you have already tired of seeing traditional Thai art, and would like to see something new and exiting, the Bangkok Art and Culture Center should definitely be on your list.
Like some of the best museums and art galleries in western countries, the BACC has a prime location (next to the National Stadium and MBK Shopping Center) and admission is free. Ignore what the touts and out-of-date guide books say, forget the Grand Palace, and come here instead.
Note: photography is allowed, but you'll have to leave your camera bag at the reception desk. The same applies for handbags.
Opening times
Open every day (except Monday) from 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM.
Contact details
Phone: +66 (0) 2214 6630, +66 (0) 2214 6631
Fax: +66 (0) 2214 6632
Web: http://www.bacc.or.th/
Address and map for the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre
The Bangkok Art and Culture Centre
939 Rama 1 Road
Wang Mai
Pathumwan
Bangkok 10330
Thailand
Getting there
Right next to the National Stadium BTS Station (take exit number three). It's on the left. You can't miss it.
Comments
I tried the BACC website
I tried the BACC website yesterday but had endless problems with pages that wouldn't load or render correctly. This may have been a glitch with my browser or their website, but it's certainly not an uncommon event when visiting Thai websites. As for having no list of future exhibitions - well that's inexcusable, isn't it?
Website
Today, their website is only extremely slow, like the webserver is connected to the net by a modem line. But once it loads, it looks fine in my Firefox. And while it is designed well, the content has lots of holes - an empty "feedback" page is only the beginning. Not that I would expect to get an answer to an email send there, that's almost impossible for Thai websites anyway.
Last year I only learned about the Bangkok 226 exhibition in a forum post few days before it ended - luckily I wasn't in Thailand at that time, otherwise I would have been so angry and sad missing such an interesting exhibition due to bad promotion.
Krungthep 226
Glad you reminded me about Krungthep 226. Fortunately for me, I was in Bangkok at the time and did somehow know about the exhibition.
Despite the shortcomings of their website, I have found staff in the BACC office to be friendly and very willing to help. They have given me a press pass when I've asked for one, and also granted me special permission to use a tripod and external flash in the art gallery. I wouldn't expect to get that service in most western countries.
Here's one of my favorite photos from Krungthep 226, showing a heavily overgrown Democracy Monument:
Exhibitions
It seems the BACC did not built their own permanent exhibition, so the building is still oversized for the things they have to show. But even for the temporary exhibitions it seems hard to learn about interesting ones in time - the list of exhibitions at the BACC website shows almost no future exhibitions, as if they just learn what they will show the day they install the exhibits. Some month of advance notice should be possible, and for us technical minded people a RSS feed with all the news...
Dashed hopes
A lot has changed at the BACC since this article was first created. My hopes for this center have been dashed several times as the exhibitions have become smaller and followed a more predicable theme that can be found in literally thousands of public places across Thailand.
Artists have protested against stifling management under the hands of the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority (BMA), and they won a small victory in July 2009 when it was reported that an independent foundation would take over management of the center. Unfortunately, the center now looks very bare except for what is an admittedly good exhibition for the new Parliament House.
I really do hope the center can get back on track very soon.
Post new comment